Instances and Intestines
by Akashic Silhouette
Summary: AU, technically SI but with a minor Halo crossover OC instead of myself, that's the only crossover element. A killer from a distance hell is reborn in another one both familiar and unfamiliar. The path out of Naraka is arduous, yet redemption is easy, from a certain point of view.
1. Blue Skies

**A.N. Hello, this is the my first story on this particular account. I've been on this site for a very long time, and I've often thought about writing a story, though my earliest attempt was unbearably cringe and an abject failure. I'm writing this on my phone unfortunately, with the mediocre fanfic app. If anyone could recommend a better writing app that'd be great, providing it's free of course. As for the story, updates will unfortunately be sporadic due to other obligations in my life. So you should definitely give this story a follow to keep up ;)****Feel free to PM me, I'm relatively sociable, though I would prefer reviews please.****This story is technically a crossover with Halo, wherein an OC is inserted into Naruto. That is really the only crossover element, I may add something much, much later in the story, but I'm unsure. That being said, this is different from most other self insert stories, for one, it isn't myself, and two, don't expect the character to have background knowledge of Naruto, Halo takes place like 500 years in the future. Obviously the story will divert from canon, especially if I change background events or add detail not present in the original anime. Also, there is no bashing in this story, characters will be judged, or even criticized by Naruto and others, but they will either learn or evolve from it, for better or worse. The universe wont bend to curse characters I dislike.**

**A killer from a far-flung hell is reborn in infinitely more familiar, and unfamiliar circumstances. Is redemption even necessary at this point?**

I knew the instant I opened bleary, unfocussed eyes, that I was not where I was supposed to be. I felt weaker, smaller, vulnerable, wrapped in cloth as I was. My immediate thrashing instinct didn't result in broken limbs and damaged equipment, only an amused chuckle before I was restrained by enormous hands. The lights were too bright against my sensitive eyes, and even as I began to catalogue a list of chemical drugs that could create such an effect, I began to cry. Involuntarily of course, but tiny lungs filled with gulps of air, only to release concerningly high pitched wails. It occurred, finally, that I was the source of the child's cries.A smiling, lined face, elderly and with crows feet appeared in my sight, looming over me before I could properly react to my new circumstances. I reflexively checked his strange white robes for Insurrectionist symbols. I only marginally relaxed when I found none.

He chuckled, before speaking in Japanese, "Naruto-kun, you have quite the set of lungs on you eh?"

My crying stopped when I tried to reflexively utter the meaningless serial number I'd been given as identification on my last operation. Unfortunately my words were garbled infant speech. The old man merely chuckled again, before turning away from me to speak with some distant nurse. I attempted to eavesdrop, but I could not effectively understand their whispered words.

Giving up, I ruminated on all the data I'd obtained. Firstly, I was in a child's body, as absurd as the thought seemed. Secondly, I was too self aware to be lucid dreaming, not to mention my training to withstand mental intrusion. Thirdly, the child I inhabited, or the new me I supposed, was named Naruto, along with the language of the locals, this indicated I was likely in Japanese settlement. Fourthly, I saw no Insurrectionist affiliations, and the locals didn't see me as anything other than Naruto.I paused, attempting to catalogue every possible colony or space station I knew of that was predominantly Japanese.It occurred to me once more that I was crying, strange. I took deep deliberate breaths to calm myself when I didn't notice anything unpleasent or defective in or around my body. The rapid thumps of my weak heartbeat slowed, and I abruptly realized I felt panicked and stressed. I paused, I had little control over my new body, and it reacted to what should be a stressful situation accordingly, but, the mind, my mind, was disciplined whereas the body-my body was not.I let out a small sigh, this was going to be exceptionally frustrating, I could already tell.

_

**Several years later**

I stared dully, eyes half lidded in an expression I seemed to wear a lot these days. My reflection stared back at me like a zombie. I'd come to terms with my new body, though it took me significantly longer to come to turns with where I was. It was no colony I was familiar with, that much was certain. None of the stars were familiar to me, and I'd spent a significant portion of my life travelling amongst them. The planet operated under completely foreign principles. Physics and other defined laws were violated utterly with nonchalance. Everyone seemed to possess an internal energy source called 'chakra'. It satisfied me to know that the culture, was therefore predictably a fusion of Japanese Shintoism, and Hindu concepts. It did not please me however, to accept that knowledge meant absolutely nothing in terms of determining my location.

So, I adapted, the instant I was old enough I began a light training regimen, not so much to build strength, but to prepare my body for later training. I was extremely pleasently surprised to notice several things about my new body. I too possessed this Chakra, and I quickly learned how to use it, albiet in small amounts. I could already walk on walls and trees, and I'd quickly adapted the sticking ability to other parts of my body. Now, I could reliably use it as a delaying technique if I was struck by someone, by applying that stick to their hand, and giving me the opportunity for counter-attack against a swifter opponent.

It was all still strange to me, to be confronted with so much, not just about the new world I lived in, but about myself. For the first year or so of my new life, I'd done more introspection than ever before. My mind was still my own, I was as intelligent as before, but my reactions were dull and slow. In return however, I felt, more free, I suppose. I was a tool of war, a superhuman weapon designed to protect Earth and all her colonies. My nature therefore necessitated a degree of conditioning and indoctrination. I was, strangely bereft of these now. I still felt loyalty, but now it was more towards my species as a whole, than the organization that spawned me. This lead me to other, greater questions. Was the mind, or my mind, tied to the soul? I still possessed the brain of a child, but my mind was my own, I wondered what a brain scan would reveal about me, if these people had the technology. Still, even as I went through the hand to hand techniques that were brutally beaten into me as a child, once more as a child again, I was comforted by the familiar alertness, and tactical mindset I had.

I soon found myself placed in an orphanage. The old man I'd once observed was named Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he was the leader of this village, Konoha, he was not, as I'd initially assumed, my grandfather. Still, it seemed strange that he'd pay so much attention to me, before placing me into an orphanage with all the other lost children. But with a new change in scenery, came new challenges. The other children, and even the matron seemed to intrinsically dislike me for no discernable reason. Still, the children quickly learned to not earn my ire. One, a boy named Todoki, cornered me in the orphanage's small playground, away from the eyes of the matron. He called me a demon and tried to hit me, but I locked his arm behind him, and pressed on a pressure point. I threatened him to keep his silence, and he did. Now I was mostly left alone.

My hand came up and ran along my exaggerated caucasian, or rather aryan features I supposed. My hair wasn't simply blonde, it was like the sun, and my eyes weren't simply blue, they were more saturated than the sky with colour. It was strange, the culture was, as far as I could tell, firmly Japanese and Hindu, and yet it didn't strictly adhere to either, and the people, while predominantly visibly Japanese, contained a smattering of foreigners, like myself. Yet no one seemed to notice their racial or ethnic differences, and so it seemed to me like a colony world, with no actual geographic ethnic divide, and yet, this seemed to be the birthworld of this group, or offshoot of humanity.

I huffed, I wasted too much time ruminating. My brothers and sisters, where they here, would be disappointed in my lack of diligence. I returned to the academy textbook I'd stolen from one of the orphanage children. His older brother was apparently in the so called ninja academy, and let him borrow the book for a few days. The very concept of a ninja academy seemed absurd, but the idea intrigued me, as far as I'd been able to observe, ninjas were a very real military profession here. Did Konoha employ child soldiers? I supposed it made sense in some ways, from a purely clinical viewpoint, Chakra was the great equilizer, much like a gun, even a child could effectively kill. Yet Chakra was different. I noticed, rather early on that my body was subtly, but vastly different from what I believed a child my age should have. Training, physical exercise, and practicing martial arts, my body took to it like a fish to water. As I grew out of infancy I had a tremendous abundance of stamina, energy, and muscle control. obviously it was still nowhere near my original body, but I was a superhuman adult killing machine. Yet it seemed Naruto was not too dissimilar, especially with me in charge.

I suspected Chakra had more evolutionary effects than a simple energy source. Furthermore, perhaps the practice of child warriors was even older than I suspected here, because no one seemed to bat an eye at children playing with kunai.

When I turned eight, I received a very special visit. I had not seen the Hokage during my entire time at the orphanage. Yet, now he visited me. For a man who was such a revered warrior and ninja he seemed oddly vulnerable now. A look of mild trepidation and regret uglied his normally kind and inviting face as he entered my room. His ceremonial long white and red robes swished just above the filthy ground, maintaining their cleanliness.

"Naruto-kun?" He asked almost hesitantly, his voice almost faint.

I stared at him the entire time, my blue eyes were my most attractive feature I'd noticed. Not many had blue eyes, and none were like mine. Ultimately it proved useful in getting what I wanted from the oddly hateful villagers, with a henge of course. I'd quickly gathered the Hokage was essentially a military dictator here, the ultimate ninja, I decided to hide little. I knew I was important in some way the other children were not, and I noticed I was often watched. I could never avoid my silent watchers, in fact, I could barely detect them to my surprise. I suspected in a world of Chakra, where a ninja could augment their eyes, nose, ears, and skin sensitivity, being hidden was a supernaturally difficult task.

"You know sir, you ought to relax, your trepidation is palpable, and I'm sure you don't want to give an impressionable child so much stress." I offered a wry smile as I calmly sat back down on my cot. There was a subtle tension beneath my skin that I'm sure Hiruzen noticed. Ultimately I knew I could not escape if he tried anything, but old habits die hard.

If Hiruzen was surprised by my words he didn't show it. His face smoothed to dispassion for a brief instant, before morphing into a kindly old smile so quickly that I wondered if he was some sort of sociopath. The Hokage chuckled before seating himself on a rickety chair.

"You are definitely unpredictable Naruto-kun" he spoke fondly, his eyes staring as if seeing something that wasn't there. I privately suspected he was thinking of my parents, whoever they were. Then I paused, given what I'd seen in his face before, and the fact that he monitored me, I wondered if this too, was a ruse. Still, to him, I was just a child, a talented and quietly intelligent child, but a child nonetheless. He couldn't truly expect me to catch these things, no matter if I really did or not, I was still just a child right? Then I remembered rumours of prodigies like Kakashi and Itachi, who'd apparently been supremely skilled and clever before their age even reached the double digits. Biologically it seemed impossible, but perhaps Chakra passively affected intelligence as well?

Then I realized the silence was dragging as Hiruzen observed me with careful eyes. The Hokage was making me doubt myself, and that above all, was dangerous.

I broke the stifling quiet with a dry chuckle that didn't belong to a child. "You're dangerous man Hokage-sama."

I watched his eyebrows raise in amusement, a faint but genuine smirk on his wrinkled face, and I immediately knew that he knew.

As Hiruzen shared my smile he replied,

"and you, Naruto-kun."

I took the compliment graciously, inclining my head, "no doubt you've observed me extensively?"

The Hokage nodded, "oh yes, would you like to know my conclusions?"

"Please" my voice was confident and relaxed, and I knew Hiruzen did not detect any weakness from me, despite the lack of power I obviously had.

Hiruzen pulled a folder from his robes, and I wondered briefly if he'd put it in a storage seal, because I didn't notice its rather large presence in his robes before. I wondered how he managed to retrieve it without releasing smoke.

The Hokage ponderously opened and flipped through the folder, as if he didn't have my profile bookmarked for this occaision. He cleared his throat, and glanced at me, my face betrayed nothing but an amused smile. I wondered if the folder even contained my file at all, this was clearly an attempt at subtle intimidation.

The Hokage returned my smile with a grandfatherly one, as if we'd just shared a secret. I almost laughed at the irony of it.

"You are a prodigy Naruto-kun, you began training on your own at the age of six, though I suspect you've been doing exercises long before that. You're quiet, but very observant, watching specifically more experienced ninja train whenever you could. You've mastered the henge technique, wall-walking, water-walking, and various shuriken-jutsu. You are a remarkably curious child, sneaking books from the library on every subject from history to modern sciences and ninja techniques." The way the man gave emphasis on history books gave me pause. I briefly wondered if he suspected the truth of my circumstances.

"You are also surprisingly adept at creating your own Taijutsu, as well as mixing and incorporating other techniques you've observed." Hiruzen looked up from my file, pinning men with an experienced stare. I could tell he'd seen much, and done more. I returned his stare evenly. Strangely, some small part of me yearned to tell him everything, to simply leap into his arms and cry like the child I was supposed to be. It was bizzare, and I entertained the idea that he was using a subtle genjutsu on me, but then I reasoned that I still had the instincts of my body, the desires of a child. Hiruzen had been the first face I'd ever seen, in some ways, he was like a distant father. Of course, if we all followed our impulses we wouldn't be here.

Once more I was reminded of my unique existence. I surprised to hear Hiruzen echo my thoughts a moment later.

"You are like two souls in one, I feel wisdom and experience in you, yet I know you should have none, and even so you are in many respects like a child." There was something in the Hokage's eyes, unknowable, unreadable as he stared at me.

"You remind me so much of a boy I once knew" his eyes became pained briefly, before he shut them and let out a tired sigh.

I only wondered who this other child was.


	2. Confrontation

**Hello ladies and gentlemen, it me, Akashic Silhouette here. I have returned to release the next chapter of Instances and Intestines. I am quite happy to see some reviews, and positive ones no less! I admit, I had some reservations in hindsight with how I wrote, it's strange how my writing turned out, to me at least. Now, to respond to some reviews**

**CYBOOT says that my power progression is somewhat flawed because other prodigies in Naruto are more advanced than Naruto right now, yet our protag has a supersoldier's mind. Also, Hiruzen should have talked to Naruto more.**

**My ANSWER: Firstly, I have revealed little about Naruto's skills at this point, he simply does not have access to a host of A-rank jutsu or advanced techniques, so he's been forced to make do with what he has. Also, Itachi and Kakashi were raised during a world war, and so there was much greater pressure to advance as early as possible, techniques and harsh training were more widespread and available. Naruto currently only has access to what he can observe, what he already knows, and basic academy jutsu. That being said, he has refined these significantly, so don't count him out yet. Also, this is an AU, so obviously certain events aren't going to be exactly the same, Hiruzen doesn't talk to Naruto because he's been living at an orphanage with other kids, the Hokage doesn't show favouritism. In the show, Naruto has a tight relationship with the Hokage, but we see him at 12 years old, while the academy starts at 8, that gives them 4 years to develop that hypothetically, using my timeframe.**

**LOVEFANFICTIONS72 shows great appreciation, I am thankful.**

**Now, to the story.**

∞Naruto a year before∞

Another restless night, and still I wasn't sure why. I sighed and glanced upwards to the night sky as I trotted idly down the alleyway. I was seven now, and recently, I just couldn't sleep, no matter what I tried. In the end, it wasn't particularly detrimental to my body, since I seemed to have a ludicrously resilient body, I could recover from sleeplessness very quickly. The stars were, as always, beautiful and saddening at once. They reminded me of how far from home I was, of the brothers and sisters I'd lost and left behind. I wondered for what felt like the millionth time, was the war over? Had we won? Or was humanity wiped out by the Covenant, and this world was all that remained of my people?

I kept wandering, until I found myself just outside the Uchiha district, only where there were once a pair of grouchy guards, there was now only silence. The Uchiha clan was one that intrigued me, along with the Hyuuga, I'd often wondered how Doujutsu came to be, especially in the case of the Byakugan. How did Chakra draw light from behind an individual into their eye to allow for three-hundred and sixty degree vision? I cleared my head, and decided to enter the district, there was something that buried itself in my gut, a feeling that reminded me of certain classified Office of Naval Intelligence operations I'd been on, including the one I'd been on before I was reborn in this world.

My eyes darted to the sides as I carefully checked my surroundings. I kept myself stuck to the shadows, and tried to condense my Chakra into myself, to avoid detection. Unfortunately I had no one to test my technique on, so I couldn't be sure it worked. As I snuck deeper into the compound, I made sure to use minimal amounts of Chakra for wall climbing, I knew the Sharingan could perceive Chakra, and I had little doubt my Henge would be seen through.

Then, before I emerged from a dark alley, I paused, smelling the air. That heady scent came back to me in an instant, blood. I pulled out a kunai, and entered a wide street filled with freshly killed corpses. I could still see the blood pools expanding, and I heard a near silent shlick of a blade running through someone's neck to my right. I quickly spun around and leapt back, creating distance as I held my kunai in a guarded position. There he was, perhaps ten metres away, and walking casually out of one of many homes that dotted the street. I recognized the boy quickly enough, Itachi Uchiha, his ANBU uniform was impeccably clean, but the straight shinobigatana in his hand still dripped with crimson ichor. There was a melancholy, bittersweet smile on his face. Itachi's eyes matched the colour of the blood on his weapon, and they narrowed in caution as he turned to me, having detected my presence. For a brief moment, I was hypnotized by the swirling Sharingan pattern in his bloody eyes, but with a burst of Chakra I dispelled whatever Genjutsu he'd attempted to catch me in. Itachi offered a faintly sad smile as he noticed the ineffectiveness of his Jutsu. My eyes shot down to his feet, avoiding eye contact was paramount when combating a Sharingan user of Itachi's level. I quickly dropped into a defensive stance. I was sure I was at the very least equally skilled as the genius Uchiha, but I lacked his power. My body had not matured as much as his, and so he undoubtedly outclassed me in speed and strength, furthermore, he also had access and therefore knew far more jutsu than I did. This was not a battle I would win; I needed to stalemate him long enough to escape.

"There will be no rescue Naruto-san, look into my eyes and I will spare you, my quarrel is only with my clan." Itachi's voice was deep for his age, and smooth, it was pleasant, and for a brief moment I wondered if he could've been a singer in another life. I had to stifle a chuckle at the thought; I did not know the Uchiha's psychological profile, it was best to maintain professional focus.

"Unfortunately, I have a difficult time accepting your generosity Ita-" I was caught off as he abruptly appeared in front of me in a shunshin, and swung his sword towards my thigh. I barely registered the strangely non-lethal move before I moved my kunai to intercept with one hand, while my other hand made a series of blindingly fast one-handed seals. I felt Itachi's muscles tense through his sword, and I knew immediately he was surprised, it seemed as though he wasn't expecting my level of skill. In what felt like an infinitesimal fraction of a second I released _Futon: __Kamaitachi no Jutsu_, the Sickle Weasel technique. A roughly short-sword length blade of compressed air shot from my hand at tremendous speed, already aimed to Itachi's abdomen, directly to his heart. In the same instant Itachi attempted to leap back, but found his blade stuck to my kunai as I had subtly made use of the Chakra sticking technique used to walk on vertical surfaces, to stick my kunai to his shinobigatana. Unfortunately Itachi reacted extremely quickly, no doubt his eyes provided him with some understanding of what I'd done, and I only just managed to cut into his uniform before he pivoted to the side, and ran lightning chakra through his sword.

I bit back a scream as my muscles seized from the electricity running through them, but fortunately I had just channelled a wind jutsu, and it was easy to repeat the process and direct the wind natured chakra throughout my body to cancel the lightning. With some sleight of hand I leapt back, leaving my kunai still attached to Itachi's sword, but with a paper bomb stuck to it. I also dropped a smoke bomb at my feet to hide my exact position, I was almost certain Itachi couldn't afford to use more destructive are of effect techniques without alerting ANBU. Itachi threw a series of shuriken at me before he used a replacement technique to avoid the following explosion. I used another quickly drawn kunai to deflect the shuriken, before crouching as I realized my mistake in giving away my location from the sound of clashing metal, and used a replacement technique of my own to avoid another hail of much faster kunai from the side as Itachi burst from the alley I'd originally come from. I allowed myself a small grin, I was sure the ANBU would come running in any moment now that the explosion went off.

"I underestimated you Naruto-san, you are very skilled for your age."

Itachi Uchiha turned to face me, as I slinked from the roof I'd appeared at with my substitution jutsu, there was no point hiding, I knew he could see me.

"Why are you attacking your own clan Itachi? I could see the sadness in your face." I ignored honorifics as I asked him, drawing a second kunai in the meantime.

Itachi paused for a moment, "you do not understand Naruto-san, I do what must be done. Please, allow yourself to be caught in my genjutsu, I will spare you; you are of significant value to the village."

My eyes widened in shock, I of course knew to some degree what Itachi was talking about, the signs were obvious, no what really shocked me was what Itachi didn't reveal. I could tell he was not very experienced with espionage and deceit, at least not as experienced as I was, though that could be attributed to the emotional turmoil I felt he was going through.

"You aren't doing this of your own volition are you?" I muttered, some of my surprise colouring my tone.

The air became tenser between us, and I heard Itachi speak, very quietly "that's classified Naruto." Then there was a sound similar to a summoning jutsu, only quieter, and I noticed a pair of clones that stood beside Itachi. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I cannot allow this to continue, you've been a good conversationalist."

At first I was slightly incredulous, a mere incorporeal clone was little threat, and I could easily tell which was real or not, but then I noticed something. I could hear the crunch of gravel under their sandals, and I could see their footprints. The clones appeared ahead of me in a burst of speed, and before I could think about using my admittedly slower and clumsier shunshin, I was forced to use both hands to block their strikes. The real Itachi appeared in front of me in a similar burst of speed and I quickly leapt back, attempting to put distance between myself and my opponents. Then I readied my shunshin and disappeared in a tunnel of speed, reappearing in another street filled with older corpses. Before I could escape into one of the alleyways, Itachi emerged from it, and I heard his two other clones land behind and beside me. I exhaled quietly through my nose, I knew there was no chance of escape at this point, perhaps I could drag our confrontation out for a little longer, but I'd noticed no ANBU presence after the explosion I'd caused. My instincts told me I was right, Itachi was running some kind of black ops mission, much blacker than almost any mission I'd been on, assassination was one thing, and this was something else. I glanced around at the bodies strewn across the streets. "Don't you have a younger sibling? Parents? People you love?"

I heard Itachi sigh; I still dared not look into his eyes. "Unfortunately Naruto-san, sometimes the path of the Shinobi supersedes all others, my little sister will live," he paused, then in a distinctly more bitter and sarcastic tone he added, "I will have need for her eyes after all."

I paused at that information, still not entirely sure what he meant, "well then Itachi-san, I hope I can continue to live," I did a stiff bow "please take care of me", mocking the traditional school introduction, I straightened myself and looked into Itachi's crimson eyes, spinning with a pattern of Sharingan I'd never seen before, there was a softly amused smile on his face.

My world went black.

∞Present∞

"So, Hokage-sama… why are you here?" It seemed to me that he was evaluating me for something, I'd seen a similar look on many faces during my time in the UNSC, not that I'd ever served anything else.

My words shook the elderly man out of his melancholic thoughts. He cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "Now that you have turned eight years old, the time has come to join the Academy, if you'd like."

A frown wormed its way across my face, if I'd like huh? This made little sense to me; I was clearly of some interest to the Hokage, considering he came to meet me personally, not to mention what was likely some kind of wetwork agency watching over me nearly twenty-four-seven. Even the villagers paid me great attention, indirectly by avoiding me, and directly by hurling abuse. It seemed as if everyone was waiting with baited breath to see if I'd do something, and it set my nerves on edge. Surely the more experienced and disciplined people here didn't actually think I was some sort of demon? It was ironic really; that I'd carry that moniker with me even into the next life, only now it was my own species accusing me. Still, I remembered reading about the Kyuubi attack in a library, at first I'd been disbelieving, but considering all the things I'd seen Chakra do, and what I'd hypothesized about its effects… perhaps a hundred meter tall nine-tailed fox wasn't out of the realm of possibility. There was clearly something going on behind the scenes, as there inevitably always was.

"Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen looked somewhat concerned as he leaned forward, his brow furrowed in a gently puzzled expression. I jerked my head up and suppressed a greater reaction as I was roused from my thoughts. If the Hokage noticed my reflex he gave no indication, still looking for all the world like a worried grandfather. I nearly gave a curdled smile; he really was a good actor.

"It's nothing Hokage-sama, I was merely lost in thought" I waved my hand dismissively, "but," I paused, my brow furrowing, mimicking Hiruzen, "the Academy, do I really have a choice?" I injected a portion of the incredulity I truly felt into the question. To my eternal surprise, and perhaps even a little shame, the Hokage actually looked hurt.

"Of course Naruto-kun! I…" The Hokage paused for a brief moment; I watched his adam's apple bob.

"… the war is over, the wars are over, I don't intend to lead Konoha into another conflict."

I arched an eyebrow and leaned forward, clasping my hands together "but, I seem to be a military asset."

The Hokage's eyes widened, before taking on another misty, unreadable look, soon the mist cleared, but it seemed that Hiruzen had come to a realization. "You're correct Naruto-kun."

My eyes narrowed, "I remind you of Itachi, don't I?" I asked almost accusingly, though in truth, I did not hate the man. Hiruzen sucked in a sharp breath, and his lips tightened, but I could tell he would say nothing.

"Why am I an asset? I am, for all intents and purposes a child." I pressed my advantage further, and wondered how much the man would reveal. The Hokage seemed almost thankful to return to our previous topic.

"Chakra is a force multiplier; children displaying prodigious talent can become extremely powerful Shinobi." Hiruzen Sarutobi replied, though I could tell he had not revealed the whole truth.

I sighed, "I can't see myself as anything other than a Shinobi Hokage-sama, when do I begin?"

A strange cocktail of emotions flickered across Hiruzen's face, sadness and relief, followed by immediate regret, and then the mask was up again. He smirked, "you start now."

∞Four years later∞

At first, I'd been surprised that the Hokage had granted me a stipend, as well as my own apartment. I had been only eight after all, but it quickly occurred to me that this world had no shortage of super intelligent children, if the rumours were any indication there was an entire clan of them in Konoha. The concept of the Shikamaru clan intrigued me; in fact, the idea of clans or bloodlines in general triggered a kind of curiosity. I wondered if they'd come about through some form of primitive genetic engineering or eugenics, or possibly a more advanced form of genetic engineering, like what I'd been enhanced through.

I was twelve now, and much to my shame, puberty had begun to set in. In my old life, I'd been made sterile by my enhancements, and furthermore, my sex drive had been severely dampened, there would be no complications in my battlefield performance. Now, I was feeling an acutely human sexuality I hadn't experienced in decades. Nevertheless, I vowed that it would not control or affect my performance. I had been attending the Shinobi Academy for four years now, and I took careful note of their education, unsurprisingly, although various benign subjects were taught, including a decent level of mathematics and sciences, it was almost all geared towards warfare and the Shinobi lifestyle in some way. I felt nostalgia for the similar, yet much harsher training and education I'd received as part of the Spartan program.

I brief, bitter smile spread across my face as I turned from my window, in truth, I wasn't really paying attention in class, any of the sciences or mathematics assignments were light-years behind my own knowledge, and I'd already read far ahead in Shinobi history and politics. I was thankful for once, that Iruka-sensei did not call me out, having already learned that I could and would answer any question he attempted to give me as punishment. As I scanned the classroom, my eyes met a pair of glaring, familiar onyx ones, Sasuke, a distinctly male name on a distinctly female Uchiha, of course, anyone that attempted to mock her ended with their face in the dirt. I offered a small, sincere smile and nod; I hoped she would not interpret it as a challenge as she had in the past. The girl was very prideful, but I could feel here anger and frustration over not being the best in the class. Sasuke's scowl flattened and she quickly looked away. I knew she was the number one kunoichi this year, but those distinctions mattered little to her, she knew I was more skilled, and she wouldn't settle for second place. I approved, though I only wished she didn't direct her frustrations on me.

I sighed and turned back to Iruka-sensei's lecture, soon we would graduate, and our teams would be formed. I felt a brief ache in my heart of my lost brother-in-arms, and I wondered how S-241 was doing. Sometimes I missed being part of a binary team, headhunting built truly close bonds.

**Please review and tell me your thoughts.**


End file.
